Break Dancers Find Sanctuary in a Church

Walking down Yucca Street in Hollywood, the old-school beats pump from a spot behind the big white steeple. The B-boys and B-girls trickle inside as night grows dark, lured by the music, taken by the vibe. Soon, bodies are diving onto the hardwood floor, heads covered with bandannas are spinning at high speed, guys doing handstands are moving upside down to the rhythm. The lights in the sanctuary of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church are out. But, on Monday nights, the parish hall turns into a mad break-dancing stage.

There is Marlon Perla, doing crazy windmills, balancing on his back, shooting his legs up into the sky with attitude. There is “Vietnam,” picking up speed before slapping his hands onto the floor to do a back flip. There is Frankie “Flave” Nunez, of Montebello, practicing the bouncy steps that have become his signature style.

“I was surprised when I first heard about this,” said Carlos Miller, also known as B-Boy Omen. “Usually, churches look at us and are like, ‘Hey, we don’t like that stuff.’ But it’s not like that here. I love it.”

“Normally, we would have to practice at clubs or jams where people would be drinking, smoking weed, slinging [crack] rock,” said Nunez, 21. “Here, it’s just about friends.”

These young breaker boys and breaker girls aren’t necessarily religious. In fact, you’d be real hard-pressed to find any B-boys or B-girls in church Sunday morning. But, in break dancing, they have revived an inner-city dance style from the 1970s.

The Rev. Jaime Edwards-Acton, rector of St. Stephen’s Church, picked up on the power and influence of hip-hop culture among youth. In February, he decided to open the parish hall once a week for breaking sessions. The Monday night jams are just a part of a new ministry the energetic priest has begun at the church, called “Hope in Hollywood.”

Although Hip-Hop Mondays at St. Stephen’s draw about a hundred people every week, it still remains to be seen whether the church can become more to the dance crews than just a safe place to hang out and break.

“We’re not trying to make Christians. That’s not the reason for this. We’re trying to be Christians,” said Edwards-Acton, 35. “This is about giving people a sense of purpose. And how wonderful it is to be the group that’s not trying to make a buck off these kids or turn them into something different. That’s real and wonderful.”

The idea of using hip-hop night as a way of reaching young people came from a nonprofit group based in Houston called Youth Advocates Inc. Instead of operating out of schools or institutions, youth advocate workers roam streets and nightclubs, connecting with people in their own environments. The hip-hop nights are used to create a positive place where drugs and alcohol are not needed to be part of the scene.

Edwards-Acton heard about Youth Advocates in November, shortly after he was installed as the new rector of St. Stephen’s. Soon after, he flew some of the break dancers who also work as outreach workers to Los Angeles for a show. Upon learning more about Youth Advocates, he decided that he wanted to replicate the program at his church.

By December, three breakers/outreach advocates from Texas had started working the streets of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pomona, hooking up with B-boys and B-girls and spreading the word that a new practice spot would soon be opening in a Hollywood church.

Effort Overcame Early Skepticism

At first, the effort ran into resistance. Neighbors called police to complain about the loud music one Monday night. Edwards-Acton said that since then the community has come to support the weekly event.

The dancers too were initially skeptical.

“People weren’t sure about it when we told them,” said Frank Gomez, 24, a youth advocate from Houston who now lives and works at St. Stephen’s. “They were like, ‘What’s the catch? Do we gotta pray before we dance?’ But now everybody knows that it’s not like that. Nothing is pushed on anybody.

“These kids are similar in a lot of ways. They’re all young and smart. Most of them come from broken homes. Their neighborhood is jacked up. But yet, they found something that made them rise above all that. We want to celebrate it. Then, take it another step,” he said.

As the advocates were reaching out to young people, Acton-Edwards struck up a partnership with Write Act Repertory Company. The 80-member acting company had been searching for a space to rehearse and produce its original plays. At the same time, St. Stephen’s needed an additional source of creative energy and income.

After setting up offices at the church, members of the acting company helped renovate the parish hall and an adjacent church building, Founder’s Hall. Now, that two-story structure is known as the “B-Boy mansion” serving as home for three youth advocate workers and a community center for young people.

“For us, this is the perfect marriage,” said Brad Parker of Write Act. “We get a great space. The location is unbelievable, and we’re excited about working with these kids and the community,” he said.

Hope in Hollywood is already transforming lives. Ivan Manriquez, an internationally known name in the break dance scene, was one of the first B-boys to learn about hip-hop Mondays. For many who had seen him in a commercial for Skechers shoes, it was a thrill to be close to him at the practices. Then, after a few weeks, church members learned that Manriquez had no place to stay, Edwards-Acton said. Since there was an extra room at the B-Boy mansion, Manriquez moved in and is now trying to get his life together.

“There’s a vibe that can’t be explained,” Manriquez said. “It’s a universal vibe. We have different styles, different flavors, but we’re all united when we’re on the floor.”

Although Hope in Hollywood is only now starting to make a difference, Edwards-Acton said he is struggling to raise funds to keep the program going. The Episcopal Diocese and St. Stephen’s Church donated about $80,000 in November to kick off the hip-hop program. Now, he said, they’re down to their last couple of hundred dollars.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do. I guess if worse comes to worst I could find a way to pay for the deejay. But the staff members are the heart of the program, and they need something besides a free place to live. Whatever happens, I’m not going to give it up because it’s too important,” he said.

Edwards-Acton’s hope is that eventually the B-boys and B-girls will become a more integral part of the church community. But when he asked one of the B-boys if they would come to a hip-hop service, the answer was no.

“That would be a big mistake,” Joe said. “People come here to dance, not to think about God.”

Even after hearing that, Edwards-Acton is not discouraged.

“I think at some point they’re going to ask why is the church doing this for us. We just have to help them figure out what the Gospel means to them. I don’t know how to do it, yet. But it has to be real. It’s about trying to be a church in a new way,” he said.